Celebrating 60 Years of the Alliance Française de St. Louis
It all started on a summer day in 1964 atop the Chase-Park Plaza Hotel where Harold Koplar, then Honorary Consul of France in St. Louis, built a French Colonial-style house, la Maisonnette, as part of the bicentennial celebration of the founding of St. Louis.
It was then that Estelle Brabant Powers, wanting her 7 children to learn French, founded the Alliance Française de St. Louis school. Little did she know the impact that her actions would have on the future of our region.
Over the last 60 years, the Alliance Française de St. Louis has played a significant role in the promotion of the French language as well as fostering an appreciation for the many cultures that make up la Francophonie. Throughout the years, our organization has been home to tens of thousands of French students, and the cultural events we have provided (mostly free of charge to members) number in the hundreds if not thousands. We are proud to say that 60 years on, the Alliance Française de St. Louis is thriving with a team of over 20 teachers, 120 hours of teaching per week, and more than 400 actively enrolled students.
AFSTL School Founder, Estelle Brabant Powers
David, Chris, and Marc Powers with our Executive Director, Isabelle Heidbreder
This past October, the Alliance Française de Saint Louis celebrated our 60th anniversary with an incredible event at the Missouri Athletic Club, which included a knighting ceremony and appearances by none other than French artist, Christian Guémy aka C215, and François Le Goff, Chef de Chancellerie de Chicago. But what truly made the event special is that we shared the evening with Estelle’s own children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and many members of the Powers family, who joined us in celebrating Estelle’s great legacy and the impact that she had not only on our organization but the Greater St. Louis.
And it was at this event that we were honored to confer the first-ever Estelle Brabant Powers Excellent in Teaching Award to our very own Dr. Myriam Bourg.
We encourage you to take a walk down memory lane with some photos that we have collected over the years, many of which feature our founder, Estelle. You will also find photos of our 60th anniversary event at the MAC.
We would like to send our heartfelt thanks to the Powers Family for their support over the years, along with everyone who has donated in her name. We look forward to another 60 years of sharing and celebrating the legacy that Estelle started that day in 1964.
